Swans’ new record is going to be a doozy. Previously, the band dropped a 10-minute version of the album’s 23-minute track “The Apostate,” and now NPR is streaming another 10-minute epic, with the suitably huge-sounding name “Mother of the World.” The track is essentially a lengthy, churning waltz, with eerie piano and acoustic guitar that occasionally make way for clanging percussion and over-driven instrumentation, along with Michael Gira’s ghostly wail. I have no idea what he’s actually singing about when he calls himself “the mother of the world,” but I’m utterly terrified at the prospect.
Swans’ new album The Seer is out August 28th on Young God. You can stream the new track via NPR.